International Advocacy Project

Indigenous nations and activists in Canada have always
vigorously demanded recognition of inherent indigenous rights on the
international stage. International forums from the Arctic Council,
to the Convention on Biological Diversity to the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples have been heavily lobbied and
heavily influenced by indigenous nations.

Despite this commendable and vigorous international
advocacy, Canadian law and policy is compartmentalized from the
increasing international law recognition for the right of indigenous
peoples.

The International Advocacy Project will be focused on
advancing the state of indigenous rights under international law and
on harmonizing Canadian law and policy with international law.
Activities taken pursuant to the international advocacy project
include: development of submissions and reports for international
environmental and human rights forums, providing legal assistance and
training to First Nations seeking to access international redress
mechanisms, development of submissions on international indigenous
rights issues for domestic legislators and policy makers and
developing legal, policy and communications strategies for applying
international indigenous rights in Canada.

The Indigenous Rights Centre has already started compiling resources for Aboriginal rights lawyers, indigenous peoples, Chiefs, policy analysts and others to use in order to bring Canadian law and practice into harmony with Canada's international obligations. These resources include training modules on sources of international law and application of international law in Canadian courts, an index of international sources of relevance to the major areas of focus of the IRC (land rights, procedures, treaties, identity and environment) and resources for policy analysts or litigators contemplating using international arguments in their work.